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Mozilla warns Germany could soon declare ad blockers illegal
(www.bleepingcomputer.com)
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this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2025
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I can buy a book and cross out words with a sharpie if I want. I can't go make copies of my edited book and distribute them, but I can do what I want with my copy that I legally acquired.
An ad blocker just edits the local copy. It's not re-publishing the site without ads.
You tell that to the lawmakers. Because right now the only ones talking to them are the industry lobbyists
You made one mistake: expecting laws to make logical sense, especially when it comes to technology
I wonder if someone set up a Language Model that just regurgitated the information in its own words without the ads (like LLMs do) how sites would be able to complain about it.
Yeah LLMs are actually a tricky copy-right problem and they seem to be getting a free pass.
Ad blockers don't seem to be tricky.
Because the legal system is a war of attrition in who can pay the lawyers the longest. The traditional media knows they'll lose that ware against the tech magnates. They also know they'll win against the browser addon developer.
It's because the billionaires are the ones controlling the businesses of generative AI.
Adblockers are benefitting the middle class and the poors at the expense of billionaires, so they can't stay.
It's literally that simple, unfortunately.